- Source
- Epicurus. Epicuri epistulae tres et ratae sententiae a Laertio Diogene Servatae. von der Mühll, Peter, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1922.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0537.tlg014.humanitext-grc1:51-81
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
A series of Epicurean ethical and practical maxims discussing the limitation of desires, the value of friendship, true self-sufficiency, and the importance of healing the soul independent of external fortune and public approval.
Πυνθάνομαί σου τὴν κατὰ σάρκα κίνησιν ἀφθονώτερον διακεῖσθαι πρὸς τὴν ἀφροδισίων ἔντευξιν. σὺ δὲ ὅταν μήτε τοὺς νόμους καταλύῃς μήτε τὰ καλῶς ἔθει κείμενα κινῇς μήτε τῶν πλησίον τινὰ λυπῇς μήτε τὴν σάρκα καταξαίνῃς μήτε τὰ ἀναγκαῖα καταναλίσκῃς, χρῶ ὡς βούλει τῇ σεαυτοῦ προαιρέσει. ἀμήχανον μέντοι γε τὸ μὴ οὐχ ἑνί γέ τινι τούτων συνέχεσθαι·1 ἀφροδίσια γὰρ οὐδέποτε ὤνησεν, ἀγαπητὸν δὲ εἰ μὴ ἔβλαψεν.
I learn that your bodily impulse inclines rather too abundantly toward sexual intercourse. But as long as you neither violate the laws, nor disturb well-established customs, nor grieve any of your neighbors, nor wear out your flesh, nor waste your necessities, use your own choice as you wish. It is, however, impossible not to be constrained by at least one of these; for sexual pleasure has never profited anyone, and it is a matter of gratitude if it has not harmed.
Ἡ φιλία περιχορεύει τὴν οἰκουμένην κηρύττουσα δὴ πᾶσιν ἡμῖν ἐγείρεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸν μακαρισμόν.
Friendship dances around the world, announcing to us all to wake up to the praise of a happy life.
Οὐδενὶ φθονητέον· ἀγαθοὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἄξιοι φθόνου, πονηροὶ δὲ ὅσῳ ἂν μᾶλλον εὐτυχῶσι. τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον αὑτοῖς λυμαίνονται.
We must envy no one; for the good are not worthy of envy, and the wicked, the more they prosper, the more they ruin themselves.
Οὐ προσποιεῖσθαι δεῖ φιλοσοφεῖν, ἀλλ’ ὄντως φιλοσοφεῖν· οὐ γὰρ προσδεόμεθα τοῦ δοκεῖν ὑγιαίνειν. ἀλλὰ τοῦ κατ’ ἀλήθειαν ὑγιαίνειν.
We must not pretend to philosophize, but philosophize in reality; for we need not the appearance of health, but real health.
Θεραπευτέον τὰς συμφορὰς τῇ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων χάριτι καὶ τῷ γινώσκειν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἄπρακτον ποιῆσαι τὸ γεγονός.
We must heal misfortunes by the grateful recollection of what has been lost, and by the knowledge that it is impossible to make what has happened undone.
Ἀλγεῖ μὲν ὁ σοφὸς οὐ μᾶλλον στρεβλούμενος 〈ἢ στρεβλουμένου〉 τοῦ φίλου.2
The wise man does not suffer more when he is tortured than when his friend is tortured.
Ὁ βίος αὐτοῦ πᾶς δι’ ἀπιστίαν συγχυθήσεται καὶ ἀνακεχαιτισμένος ἔσται.
His entire life will be confounded through distrust and will be utterly overturned.
Ἐκλυτέον ἑαυτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ περὶ τὰ ἐγκύκλια καὶ πολιτικὰ δεσμωτηρίου.
We must release ourselves from the prison of daily affairs and politics.
Ἄπληστον οὐ γαστήρ. ὥσπερ οἱ πολλοί φασιν, ἀλλὰ δόξα ψευδὴς ὑπὲρ τοῦ 〈τῆς〉 γαστρὸς ἀορίστου πληρώματος.
It is not the stomach that is insatiable, as the crowd says, but the false opinion about the unlimited filling of the stomach.
Πᾶς ὥσπερ ἄρτι γεγονὼς ἐκ τοῦ ζῆν ἀπέρχεται.
Every man departs from life as if he had just been born.
Καλλίστη καὶ ἡ τῶν πλησίον ὄψις, τῆς πρώτης συγγενείας ὁμονοούσης ἢ [εἰ] πολλὴν εἰς τοῦτο ποιουμένης σπουδήν.3
Most beautiful is the sight of those near us, if our closest kin are of one mind, or are making great efforts toward this end.
Εἰ γὰρ κατὰ τὸ δέον ὀργαὶ γίνονται τοῖς γεννήσασι πρὸς τὰ ἔκγονα, μάταιον δήπουθέν ἐστι τὸ ἀντιτείνειν καὶ μὴ παραιτεῖσθαι συγγνώμης τυχεῖν· εἰ δὲ μὴ κατὰ τὸ δέον ἀλλὰ ἀλογώτερον, γελοῖον πάν〈τως〉 τὸ προσεκκαίειν τὴν ἀλογίαν θυμοκατοχοῦντα, καὶ μὴ ζητεῖν μεταθεῖναι κατ’ ἄλλους τρόπους εὐγνωμονοῦντα.
For if parents are angry with their children with good reason, it is surely useless to resist and not to beg for forgiveness; but if they are angry without good reason but rather irrationally, it is utterly ridiculous to inflame their irrationality by holding onto anger, and not to seek to change their minds in other ways by showing good-will.
Ἔστι καὶ ἐν λεπτότητι καθαριότης, ἧς ὁ ἀνεπιλόγιστος παραπλήσιόν τι πάσχει τῷ δι’ ἀοριστίαν ἐκπίπτοντι.
There is a cleanliness even in frugality, and he who does not take this into account suffers something similar to the one who falls into excess through unlimitedness.
Ἀκολουθεῖν δεῖ τὸν παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἔπαινον αὐτόματον, ἡμᾶς δὲ γενέσθαι περὶ τὴν ἡμῶν ἰατρείαν.
Praise from others must follow of its own accord, while we must concern ourselves with our own healing.
Μάταιόν ἐστι παρὰ θεῶν αἰτεῖσθαι ἅ τις ἑαυτῷ χορηγῆσαι ἱκανός ἐστι.
It is futile to ask from the gods what one is capable of providing for oneself.
Συμπαθῶμεν τοῖς φίλοις οὐ θρηνοῦντες ἀλλὰ φροντίζοντες.
We should sympathize with our friends not by lamenting but by caring for them.
Ἐλεύθερος βίος οὐ δύναται κτήσασθαι χρήματα πολλὰ διὰ τὸ τὸ πρᾶγμα 〈μὴ〉 ῥᾴδιον εἶναι4 χωρὶς θητείας ὄχλων ἢ δυναστῶν, ἀλλὰ συνεχεῖ δαψιλείᾳ πάντα κέκτηται· ἂν δέ που καὶ τύχῃ χρημάτων πολλῶν, καὶ ταῦτα ῥᾳδίως ἂν εἰς τὴν τοῦ πλησίον εὔνοιαν διαμετρήσαι.
A free life cannot acquire great wealth because the matter is not easy without subservience to crowds or rulers, but it possesses all things in continuous abundance; and if by chance it should obtain great wealth, it would easily distribute this for the good-will of those nearby.
Οὐδὲν ἱκανὸν ᾧ ὀλίγον τὸ ἱκανόν.
Nothing is enough for the man to whom what is enough is too little.
Τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀχάριστον λίχνον ἐποίησε τὸ ζῷον εἰς ἄπειρον τῶν ἐν διαίτῃ ποικιλμάτων.
The ungrateful nature of the soul has made the living being greedy for an infinite variety of diet.
Μηδέν σοι ἐν βίῳ πραχθείη ὃ φόβον παρέξει σοι, εἰ γνωσθήσεται τῷ πλησίον.
Let nothing be done in your life which will cause you fear if it becomes known to your neighbor.
Πρὸς πάσας τὰς ἐπιθυμίας προσακτέον τὸ ἐπερώτημα τοῦτο· τί μοι γενήσεται ἂν τελεσθῇ τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐπιζητούμενον, καὶ τί ἐὰν μὴ τελεσθῇ;
To all desires this question must be applied: what will happen to me if what is sought by the desire is fulfilled, and what if it is not fulfilled?
Οὐδὲν ὄφελος ἦν τὴν κατ’ ἀνθρώπους ἀσφάλειαν παρασκευάζεσθαι τῶν ἄνωθεν ὑπό〈πτων ὄ〉ντων καὶ τῶν ὑποκάτω καὶ ἁπλῶς τῶν ἐν τῷ ἀπείρῳ.
There was no use in procuring security from men when things above and below were suspected, and simply everything in the infinite.
Καὶ τὸ γενέσθαι τινὰς ἀλγηδόνας περὶ σῶμα λυσιτελεῖ πρὸς φυλακὴν τῶν ὁμοειδῶν.
Even the occurrence of certain pains in the body is useful for the prevention of similar ones.
Ἐν φιλολόγῳ συζητήσει πλεῖον ἤνυσεν ὁ ἡττηθείς. καθ’ ὃ προσέμαθεν.
In a scholarly discussion, the one who is defeated gains more, insofar as he learns more.
Εἰς τὰ παρῳχηκότα ἀγαθὰ ἀχάριστος φωνὴ ἡ λέγουσα Τέλος ὅρα μακροῦ βίου.
The voice that says “Look to the end of a long life” is ungrateful toward past goods.
Τοιοῦτος εἶ γηράσκων ὁποῖον ἐγὼ παραινῶ, καὶ διέγνωκας ὁποῖόν ἐστι τὸ ἑαυτῷ φιλοσοφῆσαι καὶ οἷον τὸ τῇ Ἑλλάδι· συγχαίρω σοι.
You are growing old as such a person as I advise, and you have discerned what it is to philosophize for oneself and what for Greece; I rejoice with you.
Τῆς αὐταρκείας καρπὸς μέγιστος ἐλευθερία.
The greatest fruit of self-sufficiency is freedom.
Ὁ γενναῖος περὶ σοφίαν καὶ φιλίαν μάλιστα γίγνεται ὧν τὸ μέν ἐστι θνητὸν ἀγαθόν, τὸ δὲ ἀθάνατον.5
The noble man is chiefly concerned with wisdom and friendship, of which the former is a mortal good, the latter an immortal one.
Ὁ ἀτάραχος ἑαυτῷ καὶ ἑτέρῳ ἀόχλητος.
He who is undisturbed is untroubled for himself and for others.
Γενναίῳ σωτηρίας μοῖρα τῆς ἡλικίας τήρησις καὶ φυλακὴ τῶν πάντα μολυνόντων κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τὰς οἰστρώδεις.
For a noble youth, the share of salvation lies in the preservation of his youth and in guarding against those things which defile everything through raging desires.
Οὐ λύει τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ταραχὴν οὐδὲ τὴν ἀξιόλογον ἀπογεννᾷ χαρὰν οὔτε πλοῦτος ὑπάρχων ὁ μέγιστος οὔθ’ ἡ παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς τιμὴ καὶ περίβλεψις οὔτ’ ἄλλο τι τῶν παρὰ τὰς †ἀζυρισί(έ?)τους αἰτίας.
Neither the greatest wealth nor honor and being looked up to by the crowd, nor anything else depending on unlimited causes, dissolves the disturbance of the soul or generates any joy worthy of mention.
- 51τὸ μὴ οὐχ ἑνί γέ τινι τούτων συνέχεσθαι
Following the adjective ἀμήχανον, which has a negative meaning ('impossible'), the conjunction τὸ μὴ οὐχ with the infinitive συνέχεσθαι forms a double negation, meaning 'it is impossible not to be constrained' (i.e., 'one will inevitably be constrained').
- 56ἀλγεῖ μὲν ὁ σοφὸς οὐ μᾶλλον στρεβλούμενος 〈ἢ στρεβλουμένου〉 τοῦ φίλου
The nominative participle στρεβλούμενος agreeing with the subject of the main clause ὁ σοφὸς is contrasted with the genitive absolute construction στρεβλουμένου τοῦ φίλου supplied after the conjunction ἤ. It expresses the Epicurean paradox that the wise man does not suffer more when he himself is tortured than when his friend is tortured (viewing his friend's pain as equal to his own).
- 61τῆς πρώτης συγγενείας ὁμονοούσης ἢ [εἰ] πολλὴν εἰς τοῦτο ποιουμένης σπουδήν
A genitive absolute construction with τῆς πρώτης συγγενείας as its semantic subject. The participles ὁμονοούσης and ποιουμένης are linked by the coordinating conjunction ἤ, functioning conditionally ('if our closest kin are of one mind, or...').
- 67διὰ τὸ τὸ πρᾶγμα 〈μὴ〉 ῥᾴδιον εἶναι
An articular infinitive construction (τὸ εἶναι) governed by the preposition διὰ. The accusative noun phrase τὸ πρᾶγμα acts as the subject of the infinitive, accompanied by the supplied negative μή and the predicate adjective ῥᾴδιον, expressing cause ('because the matter is not easy').
- 78ὧν τὸ μέν ἐστι θνητὸν ἀγαθόν, τὸ δὲ ἀθάνατον
The genitive relative pronoun ὧν refers back to the antecedents σοφίαν καὶ φιλίαν, functioning as a partitive genitive ('of which the one..., and the other...'). In the Epicurean context, 'wisdom' (σοφία) is considered a mortal (θνητόν) good, while 'friendship' (φιλία) is regarded as an immortal (ἀθάνατον) bond.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (2, latest 2026-10-18)
- 2026-10-18 AI review — source 2